How much respect do you have for speed limits?

[Herman Toothrot]

I obay 30mph limits, the rest are ignored and I drive / ride at what ever speed I feel happy with, I think I have good observation skills as I have no points or convictions after almost 20 years with this approach.

[daytona111r]

P-Jay said:

To be frank my whole opinion was smashed to bits yesterday evening. I was driving home, thinking about cooking dinner, listening to the radio and probably half a dozen other things we going through my mind - I'd guess I was doing about 20mph because it was pretty busy - nose-to-tail on the other side coming away from the city, but nothing in front of me on mine - but I'd not long turned a junction and I was coming up to a zebra crossing - but I don't usually consider the actual limit unless theirs a camera or Police car about.

Anyway, I saw a flash of something out-of-place in the corner of my eye and covered the brake, the something was a tiny little girl of about 2 walking between the cars on the other side and she plonked herself on the road in front of me, I can't remember braking but my car felt like it was going to do an endo. I stalled and jumped out of the car to try to grab her but I must have scared her because she started running, thankfully a lady who'd seen what had happened on the other side was out like a flash with her arms out starched, the kid ran straight to her. Her panicked parents arrived on scene about 90 seconds later, crying their eyes out.

I haven't been able to sleep properly since and it was a 'good news' story really, I'd seen her in plenty of time, I never got that close, I had 10m to spare thanks to a combination of quick reaction from years of trying to kill myself on mountain bikes, ABS and massive modern brakes meant 'no harm done', but it's done a huge number on me, what if I'd been doing 30, even a bit more, it's quite a wide road, what if I'd been looking at the radio - I've got a stupid overly-complex 'driver interface' thing and sometimes I know I spend too much time fecking about with it, changing from MP3 to radio takes too long, I know I shouldn't but I do. Anyway, I don't think I'd ever be at fault - a tiny girl who didn't know any better got away from her folks somehow and ran into a busy road - everyone's worse nightmare - but how could I live with myself??

I can't say how speed limits play in all of this, I think this is probably just the first thread that sort of met my need to get it off my chest - but my stance was always "drive to the conditions" and of course that's still true, but in the lower speed roads, right-now today, I don't think you can use that as an excuse to exceed them, not when there's stupid people, drunk people, old people and kids all sharing them with you. No one is as good as they think they are behind the wheel.

narrow residential street with cars parked either side I will do 20-25. I will vary my speed on the same piece of road dependant on whether there are parked cars or how obscured my visions is of something jumping out. Given a clear road I'm usually the fastest one on it, but it amazes me how most folk don't adjust their speed given the conditions due to poor spatial/risk awareness.

[C.A.R.]

30 < - lots of respect (where it's obvious)
> 30 - Less respect, especially on dual carriageways (WTF, 30mph DC's?!)

But it's all relative and dependent on the individual circumstances (weather conditions, surface condition, surroundings...)

[daytona111r]

Monkeylegend said:

Mr SFJ said:

and lets be honest, 99% of people do 80-100 on the motorway anyway so it's just a technicality now.

I think you will find that is not actually true.

Most people are generally bad at estimating percentages or probability. How many times have you heard someone say '100% it will happen,' when there is virtually nothing in life that is exactly 100% (not even death or taxes I would argue).

[IvanSTi]

daytona111r said:

narrow residential street with cars parked either side I will do 20-25. I will vary my speed on the same piece of road dependant on whether there are parked cars or how obscured my visions is of something jumping out. Given a clear road I'm usually the fastest one on it, but it amazes me how most folk don't adjust their speed given the conditions due to poor spatial/risk awareness.

I had a speed awareness course last week, it's amazing how many people don't understand how to read a road or it's surroundings. It's even more scary how many people don't know what the speed limits are on the road and how you can tell if you're in a 30 zone. Funniest part of the day was when one of the others on the course turned around to everyone at this point in the day and shouted, "This is fking basics people, Jesus Christ"

[bobbo89]

30mph - Always

Anything above all denepds on my knowledge of the road, speed camera locations and where the BIB camera nazi's might be sat!

[oyster]

TurboHatchback said:

Generally similar approaches to my own then.

P-Jay said:

Stuff

Fair enough but I'm not sure what limits have to do with it. If I am driving close to parked cars with a pavement on the other side then I will be going pretty slowly regardless of the whether the signs say 10 or 100mph.

I would be mortified if I caused an accident due to my own stupidity/incompetence hence why I drive in a manner where I am 99.9% confident that I will not do so. If someone dived out in front of me in a manner which could not be foreseen and I killed them then I wouldn't feel bad about it (say they jumped off a bridge in front of me on the motorway).

That's great.
But the vast majority of drivers are sheep. They treat limits as targets and do not drive to the conditions.

It's a shame that the roads have to be governed to suit the worst drivers, but then I guess that's progress for you.

And much as I believe darwinism should have a little more say in our destiny, 2 year old girls aren't part of that.

[Hudson]

Around town/residential, especially on a road i have to drive down to get to my house which has cars parked on both sides, blind corners and next to two schools (good combo) i wouldn't dream of doing 30 even though i'd have a legal right to and hey, it's the limit so it's "safe".

However big dual carriageways with nothing but fields surrounding them with 40 limits are somewhat...ignored, by everyone. Including myself.

I have respect for the conditions and driving in a manner that doesn't put myself or anyone in danger, does my head in when people cling to the belief that just because you're on or under the limit magical traffic fairies will protect you from anything.

There was a post on here a while back about blanket 40 limits on country lanes that suggested that it will result in more accidents as the vast swathes of idiots will think "oh the sign says i can do 40 so i can do 40 and it's perfectly safe" and then promptly put their car into the nearest ditch, unfortunately probably taking some innocent person with them.

[kambites]

Monkeylegend said:

kambites said:

Monkeylegend said:

99% seems pretty precise to me. Next time you drive a motorway with unrestricted speed capabilities, drive at 80 and tell us what happens.

Driving at 80 (a real 80, not a speedometer value) on the southern part of the M3 or the M27 outside the rush, you'll overtake significantly more vehicles than you're overtaken by.

Which kind of lays waste to 99% doing between 80 and 100.

Indeed. I doubt more than a quarter of vehicles on the motorways around here are travelling at over 80. Mind you, that's still quite a lot considering that the speed limit is 70.

[nails1979]

56 mph everywhere. Piston Heads MPG matters.

[Aeroresh]

As someone who has set countless speed limits in my career, I often take them with a pinch of salt as a road user because most of the time thier introduction on the whole these days is driven by political pressure rather than any sound road safety principals!

Its embarrassing when even the police wont support some of them as they see them as unjust and rediculous, but they still go in as its what councillors driven by nagging residents want.

Problem is the police are the ones that cop for it from the same local residents and do gooders when the limits are quite rightly ignored as drivers see no reasons for them.

Urban and village 30mph limits excluded......all the others I prefer to use common sense.

[Countdown]

Probably in a very small minority on here but I stick to all posted limits.

[Muffsy]

I drive how see fit, though respectfully. I always allow an extra 10% on limits anyway.
I do 90/100 in NSL and slow down for the BiB or the Cameras that's all then back to normal.
In 34 years driving I have never had a Speeding Ticket or been Clocked or Photo'd ever so must be a responsible Driver or just very very alert...
I normally drop a couple gears when I can if the tt in front is Miss Daisy...
They are the one who cause the Accidents by driving too Slow...

[k-ink]

The speed limits on motorways are stupid. Designed in an ancient era based upon shoddy drum brakes and cross ply tyres. It is all about making money these days.

[Motorrad]

The respect they deserve.

[Patrick Bateman]

Funk said:

20 = no (I think the whole '20 is plenty' thing is bullst and actually dangerous)
30 = yes
40 = yes
50 = less so now as many roads that were previously NSL (ie. 60 or 70) have been dropped to 50 on a whim and to no apparent benefit
NSL (single lane) = broadly respectful. 60's usually quick enough and bearing in mind you may encounter artics crawling at 40ish around the next bend
NSL (dual lane) = 70-80 is fine
Motorway = cruse around 80-90

All condition-dependent of course.

I think children should just be less dumb. A 20 on a wide open road feels ridiculously slow, hardly anyone I see sticks to that temporary limit.

[vournikas]

Over the last few years, my respect for speed limits has largely diminished appreciably. This has mainly been due to the seemingly unnecessary dumbing down of limits on roads where its clear that no reduction was required.

Here in Shropshire, I can think of a number of small villages on A Roads where - despite there being no KSI's directly attributable to exceeding the existing limit - the speed limit was reduced from 50 or 40, to 30. Like Norton, for example, where it went from 50 to 30 despite there being no changes to housing density or village layout in the preceding years. The A458 between Bridgnorth and Morville was NSL for as long as I can remember. Then, one day, in the middle of nowhere, the hamlet of Morville Heath was created. The village signs went up, the speed limit was reduced to 40 for the 1 mile stretch in the "hamlet", but nothing in that one mile piece of road - either on it or alongside it - had changed in the 25 years previous.

There are other examples, including a new 50 limit and 30 on my commute that I disregard as a matter of course. Until last year, both were NSL. In these sections, there were no changes to the road layout, no new builds happened adjacent to the sections. So I treat the new limits to the contempt they deserve.

Otherwise, 30's and 40's in residential and urban areas are given strict adherence. NSL and M-way, less so.

[siovey]

20mph - 100%
30mph - 100%

There is normally a good reason for these limits, and that's fine with me

40 & 50mph , many of these near me used to be national limit and for no reason have come down. I drive to the conditions, making sure I know where the coppers are normally situated!

60mph + depends on the conditions. And if I'm near a known revenue raising area

[trashbat]

I generally stick to them, or at least the ACPO-with-GPS version of them.

I have a fair bit of respect for them, although like OP it's sometimes waning. It's a question of more than just my ability to see hazards and react, it's prior casualty rates, what the average person expects, the possibility of unidentified hazards or other people's stupidity, and other factors like environmental noise etc.

I know it panders to the lowest common denominator, and sometimes that's stupid (blocking roundabout sightlines for one), but actually we're notably bad at judging speed and rate of closure, so I'm comfortable that when I have to stop in a sudden queue on the motorway, most people behind aren't having their 'oh st, got to stop' moment at 150mph.

More importantly, what am I going to gain from breaking a 30? What am I going to gain from doing 100+ on a boring motorway? I'm never in that much of a rush.

When I'm driving for fun, I just pick the road instead. On my favourite twisty B-road route in my rattly car the happy speed is often under 60mph, with maybe a burst or two above that, but generally the limit doesn't dictate the experience.

[MC Bodge]

There appears to be a common theme developing here, does there not?

I'm broadly in agreement with urban 30mph speed limits (although not necessarily on broad, pedestrian-free boulevards and urban dual-carriageways), and wish that more drivers would consider parked cars, narrow roads and reduced visibility when driving around residential areas, rather than having blanket 20mph limits.

I am frustrated by the ever reducing speed limits "It's 50/40 for a reason" (and increasing solid white lines) in rural areas. FWIW, I tend to drive and ride to the conditions and slow down for hazards and poor forward views than many other people appear to do.

I enjoy driving and observing my surroundings -most people don't.

Motorway speed limits are a bit of a nuisance. It is possible to cruise comfortably at 90mph for hours on a long journey on good quality UK motorways given light traffic, but there is always the risk of being caught and fined because the speed limit is a blanket 70mph, whether you are in SE England or the Scottish Borders, so part of a driver's attention is always focussed on looking for cameras and Police.

It's a pity that a large chunk of the UK population are elderly, reactionary Little-Britainers. These are often the sort of disgusted, ignorant people who have time on their hands, enjoy campaigning and many of whom actually bother to vote... unlike many younger people.

Something to consider is that many drivers are now fortunate enough to drive cars that go, stop and handle quite well even if driven in the most ham-fisted, mechanically unsympathetic ways and give a feeling of invincibility to even the most useless of those drivers. It probably encourages some of them to drive 'fast'.

ps. Interestingly, other people have told me about the level of ignorance and down-right idiocy of some of the people they encountered at speed awareness courses.

On the other hand, my mother-in-law, who's driving might not be considered to be of a high standard preferred to take points rather than attend a speed awareness course as friends of hers had been "patronised" by the men taking the courses. Of course, "Patronised" could well be interpreted as informing them of things that they should really have known already and if they are driving on the road.

Edited by MC Bodge on Friday 30th May 20:52